EU still lags behind US in terms of military aid to Ukraine, study shows
New European military assistance to Ukraine has not shown any growth in recent months, even though US aid ceased entirely.
As reported by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), the EU and its member states have allocated a total of €42 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war until the end of February 2024, while the US has provided €43.1 billion.
In recent months, Europe has almost caught up with the US and is now "on a par in terms of military aid," explained Christoph Trebesch, Head of IfW's Ukraine Support Tracker.
However, Europe has not been able to fill the large gap left by the United States, especially in terms of ammunition.
The European defence sector has been very slow in increasing production capacity.
Accordingly, Ukraine received about €6 billion in additional EU support in January and February 2024, while an aid package totalling over US$60 billion was blocked in Congress.
On 24 April, US President Joe Biden signed a legislative package passed by Congress that allocates nearly US$61 billion in supplemental military and economic aid to Ukraine, as well as assistance to other US allies.
Immediately afterwards, the US announced a US$1 billion military aid package for Ukraine.